After You

“You’re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. It always does feel strange to be knocked out of your comfort zone… There’s a hunger in you, Clark. A fearlessness. You just buried it, like most people do.Just live well. Just live.”

Sequels are always tricky, aren’t they? Will it ruin the first book that I loved ever so dearly? These are the risks readers take when invested and frankly, in love with a story. After You by JoJo Moyes is exactly what all Me Before You readers needed.

I completed Me Before You in May of 2016, and here we are February 2017 and I have finally finished After You. “What took you so long?”, you might ask. It’s certainly not as though I did not want to read this story, for I had it sitting in my Amazon cart since it’s release. Me Before You left such a scar on my heart, remembering the hurt and sadness I felt upon completion made me very apprehensive to open my heart to another Moyes heartbreak. After having read After You I realized I was behaving the same way towards this story, that Louisa was towards living. Opening yourself to the possibility of feeling heartache, is the only way we could ever know true happiness.

A couple months back, I participated in a fun little social media “about me” of sorts. Naming 3 fictional characters you were like. Louisa Clark just so happened to be one of my picks. It’s certainly an odd and wonderful experience to be able to relate to a fictional character. To feel you aren’t alone in any certain way of carrying yourself, expressing yourself, and plainly just being yourself.

After You is a complete story for healing. Louisa is thrown a massive curve ball when a figure from Will Traynor’s past unexpectedly drops into her life. She struggles to find the balance of moving on, living, and allowing herself happiness. In the end will she prevail?

I enjoyed this book more than words can express, so I feel it would be extremely unforgivable to allow any sort of spoilers. I urge you–whether you have read Me Before You and are still suffering from a broken heart–or if you’ve never wanted to open it in the first place because of the content the story contains–read them, please.